Joshua Weiss is a Product Lead at Specno - who help businesses solve a variety of problems. Josh is also an avid gamer, and we chat about not only bridging the gap between the work you do and the things in life you enjoy doing, but also how valuable any type of job skills are and being able to transfer skills into your new role. Josh’s story into where he currently finds himself in life is an interesting one. Be sure to connect with Josh on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-weiss-91a023153?originalSubdomain=za 00:00 Intro 02:33 A quick recap of our live event 06:20 Who is Josh 11:12 Going into gaming to understand the industry 42:32 The thread between what you enjoy doing and what work you do

In this engaging episode, we sit down with Abby Covert, a renowned Author, Information Architect, and community organizer. Abby's expertise in Information Architecture (IA) has been transforming how we organize information, making it accessible to everyone. Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of IA and discover how sensemaking can be applied to our personal lives. Explore the profound impact of sensemaking on self-discovery and learn valuable insights on how to articulate your personal journey to colleagues and friends. Don't miss our discussion on Alfi & Abby's workshop series, where you can further explore these concepts and enhance your self-awareness. Alfi & Abby's Workshop series: Learn More: Explore Abby's work and The Sensemakers Club:

The Sensemakers Club https://abbycovert.com/ https://www.etsy.com/shop/AbbytheIA Join us on this transformative journey of understanding and articulating your personal narrative. Tune in now for inspiring insights and actionable tips!

In our final instalment of our Jack Studio trilogy series, we round out our time with the studio by chatting to Dylan da Silva and Claudia Ferreira, the UI and system design specialists. We explore how they work together and compliment each others skillset, similarly to Claire and Paul. One thing we’ve definitely learnt form these episodes is how highly functioning small design studio teams can be when everyone is on the same page, has seamless team efforts on the same projects, and the organisational structure has been ironed out. We also touched briefly on AI in design, and how it could possibly be used as a tool and starting block instead of simply replacing designers, before circling back to explore some of Dylan and Claudia’s past projects within the Studio. 

Explore more of what Jack Studios has to offer here: https://www.jackstudios.co.za

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

02:30 Dylan’s journey to Jack Studio

05:43 Claudia’s journey to Jack Studio

17:09 Thoughts on AI design tools

23:22 Engaging with briefs 

33:38 Specialising and career development

44:27 Weeva

55:18 Luulo

1:00:11 A moment of reflection

Music by https://pixabay.com/users/chillmore-25283030 from https://pixabay.com

On this second episode of the Jack Studio series, we are joined by Claire Keet (Creative Director) and Paul Loots (Director of Operations). We continue on from our previous conversation with their CEO Sabeeha and delve more into working with clients and how the Studio managers projects in such a small team of people. Claire and Paul also each walk us through one of their favourite past projects and the unique challenges of each one. Explore more of what Jack Studios has to offer here: https://www.jackstudios.co.za Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:48 Paul and Claire’s journey into a professional career 08:06 Executing projects with a small team 12:29 Adapting organisational structure 19:27 Growing the company by going deeper and giving more value 52:58 Finding the clients that you want to work with 1:00:30 A look at two past projects Music by https://pixabay.com/users/chillmore-25283030 from https://pixabay.com

Sabeeha Banubhai is our first ever returning guest, and we were so elated to talk to her once again. She is our first interview in a series of episodes with the team from Jack Studios, where Sabeeha is the founder and CEO. We spoke to Sabeeha about some of the ins and outs of running a design studio, from choosing clients and delegating a pipeline and tasks, to Alfi’s experience workshopping with the studio. Explore more of what Jack Studios has to offer here: https://www.jackstudios.co.za Chapters: 00:00 Intro 03:02 Mentorship 06:17 What does Sabeeha do 14:12 Alfi’s workshops with Jack Studio 33:00 Expanding the team and growing the business 47:05 The workflow in a design studio 55:36 Choosing clients to work with, and consulting decisions with the team 1:04:32 A moment of reflection Music by https://pixabay.com/users/chillmore-25283030 from https://pixabay.com

Adrian Owen is a fine artist and illustrator whose body of work speaks for itself. We had a very interesting conversation with him about marketing yourself and he provided some insight into his experience as a freelance creative. We explore the creative inclinations that arguably exist in everyone - wether it be inherit or something that’s developed through  practise. We also discuss the value of art from the perspective of the creator and the viewer, and how emotional turmoil can impact - and often fuel - the creation and perception of visual art.

Be sure to go and see more of Adrian’s spectacular body of work on his website: https://adrianowen.co.za

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

03:04 Where did the creative journey begin

09:28 Exploring the creative process as a child

23:01 Art competitions

39:12 The value of art

49:23 The struggling artist and emotional turmoil

Jan Oberholzer is a freelance animator and illustrator. In this episode we once again dive into the world of freelancing and learn some valuable lessons from Jan’s experience from working for studios to eventually starting his freelance venture. We discuss a variety of topics related to freelancing, from choosing work that truly resonates with you, setting boundaries, working with international clients, and what a typical work week looks like as a freelancer. Find more of Jan’s work here: https://janoberholzer.com and follow his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jan.oberholzer/

06:21 Strategy for going freelance and finding clients 07:38 The accident that led him to freelance 12:56 Motivation 17:14 Recovery period 22:06 What exactly does Jan do 32:12 The experience of working with people 37:30 Freelance time management Music by https://pixabay.com/users/chillmore-25283030 from https://pixabay.com

Carly Whitaker is the Head of Culture and Branding at Umuzi - a NPO focussed on providing access to education that leads people to higher level careers. Carly also has a wide foray into lecturing and education including being a PHD candidate as well as a practising fine artist. We talk about a lot of the similarities and differences that exists in the digital and physical design world, take a deeper look into her research on making space for discourse within digital arts, and a closer view on what Umuzi does.

Find out more about Umuzi here: https://www.umuzi.org

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

05:44 Creative practises

09:35 Relationship between artist and curator 

17:00 A deeper look into the research

33:13 Curating digital over physical spaces

34:41 Transition out of lecturing

41:09 A look at what Umuzi does

Music by https://pixabay.com/users/chillmore-25283030 from https://pixabay.com